In his recent book, Learning To Love The Psalms, W. Robert Godfrey seeks “to open a way to a growing understanding of the Psalms” for the reader. He does not seek to give a detailed exegesis of every Psalm and he is not writing a commentary of the book of Psalms. What he does do is provide the reader with a helpful framework to use in approaching the Psalms as a whole and each Psalm individually.

Godfrey begins the book with eight introductory chapters covering the themes, authors, forms, and structures of the Psalms. In the seventh chapter he highlights the structure of the book as a whole. You will notice that the book of Psalms is divided into five books.

Godfrey uses these books to help give a thematic structure to the entire psalter. He admits that after many years he did not sense a flow to the book as a whole, but that recently he has begun to see a thematic flow and structure.

This structure is what he then uses to walk you through the psalter for the remainder of the book. The structure he gives is as follows:

            Book One: Psalms 1-41 - The King’s Confidence in God’s Care

            Book Two: Psalms 42-72 - The Kings Commitment to God’s Kingdom

            Book Three: Psalms 73-89 - The King’s Crisis over God’s Promises

            Book Four: Psalms 90-10 - The Kings Comfort in God’s Faithfulness

            Book Five: Psalms 107-150 - The King’s Celebration of God’s Salvation

The remainder of Godfrey’s book is then split into six sections. The first five sections cover a book of the Psalms with a chapter on the character and structure of that book followed by six chapters on six different Psalms within that book. The final section covers the last five Psalms that he titles “The Conclusion of the Psalter.”

This book has been tremendously helpful in my own understanding of the Psalms. It has greatly helped me in seeing the entire book as a whole and the flow of the themes throughout. Most importantly, this book has been helpful to me in seeing Christ in the Psalms.

Godfrey states that the aim of his book is to “help Christians understand and appreciate the Psalms at a new level” and this has certainly been the case for me. I would encourage you to get this book as a helpful resource as you read the Psalms.